Liberal Chinese, “Unliberal” Chinese and Conservative Chinese

In the last several posts we talked about Constitutional Malays, “Liberal” Malays and Conservative Malays; “Unliberal Malays” and “Loyal Malays”; Singapore Malays, Non-Kow Towing Malays, etc. Why not we talk about Liberal Chinese, “Unliberal Chinese” and conservative Chinese this time. In the interest of a greater understanding, better disposition and goodwill among us Malaysians.

One wonders what category business people like billionaire Robert Kuok and Vincent Tan belong to. However, one needs not wonder too much about politicians. Politicians are a different kettle of fish because … well, politicians are politicians.

Eunice Ong, in an article produced on the anniversary of the 1969 racial riots (reproduced below), appears to be in the category of liberal Chinese. But look at the comments to her article a few of which are printed here below her article. What category (ies) do they belong to?

The Sin Chew article below that is written by the Deputy Head of the Culture and Education Department of Sin Chew Daily. He is from Sarawak, a product of a Chinese school, a schooling system he does not want to give up, yet wants to see change in the country. The change he wants is getting rid of corruption, which we subscribe to. His dream ”to see my country progress to be an united harmonious nation, where our politicians dispute on ideals, not playing the racial and religious cards” is shared by many. Is he liberal, moderate or conservative? Let’s talk about that.

Then there are articles regarding the spat on PKR “Strategic Director” Tian Chua’s call to the Selangor state government to boycott the Sin Chew Daily. Between the PKR Director and the Sin Chew people we do not know who are liberal or “unliberal” or conservative. The MCA Youth joins the foray, calling Tian Chua’s boycott call “childish”; readers may want to venture an opinion where to place them in the classifications stated above. Meanwhile, there’s a Sin Chew article saying it is “Difficult for MCA to regain lost support” because of “one-and-a-half-year internal conflicts” and “Chinese votes have been flowing to the Pakatan Rakyat.” Are these true and, if so, are the run-away Chinese votes liberal, “unliberal” or conservative?

And finally, the Malays in Utusan Melayu give an opinion on the issues raised in the Chinese press in recent times. Let’s see whether they indicate an accurate Malay perspective on the categories of Chinese stated above.

As usual, it’s not labeling. It’s an attempt at understanding one another better so that we can go about together better. And, as usual, let’s chat.

Revisiting the topic of Malay rights from one side of the fence but in view of all

We (and when I say we, I mean the non-Malays) often complain of the different privileges received by the different races. We condemn frequently organisations such as PERKASA, the “Ketuanan Melayu” mentality, and all the privileges that we see our Malay contemporaries get. We express disgusted disapproval of the inequality.

We whine that Malay is the national language and Islam is the national religion as opposed to our preferred language. Ah! We can also go on about how much sacrifice it is to go to a halal restaurant, because you have a Malay friend with the group.

So, one day say, the Prime Minister tells us that he has the mandate from the Malays and wants to negotiate a compromise. Mr. PM will ask of our dissatisfaction, and we will give him a long list: we want our children to be admitted to all public universities, we want to be given more business licenses, we want to either take away the Bumiputera discount or get the same discount, we want to be given the privilege to buy special shares so as to earn money, and the list goes on.

Mr. PM says, “Fine, we can come to a compromise and I can agree to at least half of your requests, but will you agree to give up vernacular schools and make our education system a one-school system?” Funnily enough, before he can explain how the individual vernacular language will be taught as an elective subject in all schools (private or public) and that it will eventually delete one of the many causes of racial disunity, the strongest protesters of that proposal will be the same persons who claim injustice in the first place.

If change is indeed a goal, there are sacrifices we have to make. We can argue until the cows come home that we are giving up our right to learn our mother tongue and our roots, but we are Malaysians and it is about time we should start acting like Malaysians. Our roots are all here in Malaysia, not in China or India. Do we really expect them to give up what they have been enjoying for more than five decades in the name of change without us making an effort at the same time? If we do, how then can we advocate for fairness?

As many would remember telling me in their wisdom to look at the big picture, and the big picture here is that giving up vernacular schools will mean lesser racial disunity. The usual trend is that the cliques are racial based and that barrier is language. Really, be honest, you would have used the excuse of not being able to have more friends of other races because of language. I have that problem.

The big picture is that if we can accept each other, we can learn from each other and the troubling PERKASA will not exist to protect the rights of the Malays.

The big picture is that there is hope for change.

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Some of the comments to the post:

winner on 24 May, 2010 at 6:29 pm

Know what malay pig? A suck babi hutan pendatang from Indonesia, pencuri of Tanah Orang Asli, should be caught by all the Chinese whom you have insulted.

They will then pack you in a pig basket, parade you round Chinatown in KL, to let the Chinese pelt rotten eggs, throw shit and pour all the pig shit from the nearby pig farms on your head.

Then let them take you out of your pig basket and roast you over an extremely hot fire until you become barbecued pork. After that chop your stinking carcass and leave it in the streets of rural for all those vultures and crows to feed on. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Why only malays? You think this country is yours alone? What has the government really done for the pribumis and the Orang Asli? Look at how Umno has screwed up Sabah Indonesians and Filipinos getting citizenship and enjoying the same benefits as you the moment they hop off the boat!

You go ask the government to stop all that then I will stop thinking you are speaking through your asshole.
Podah! You are nothing but a chauvinist malay pig like the rest.

It seems like Malaysia is still not ready for globalisation because of a bunch of anti-social racist morons like you. Our country already independent for so many donkey years but sorry to see still got such shortsighted moron like you.
Bangsa melayu failed in the past 30 years with lots of help from Umno but still failed! Then they blame the Chinese cheat la, marginalise them la, this la that la……….so much excuses! If you are pariah, forever you are pariah!

If you malay pig race lazy, no matter how much with the government help, it will back to square.
For me, I just speak up what I had observed and not like the malay race who is always jealous about other race success. Bad hearted.

What the hell you ask all the Chinese to get out from Malaysia in your comment post? It is proven you are another racist moron bastard!

Malay failure is the fact! It has been happened since 30 years ago and not just now. If you keep on denying it proven again you are just another loser or hypocrite!

Kaum tongkat still can survive in most of the zoos overseas. See the UPM red shirt “Orang Utan”. At least they could be the laughing stock to this world.

If malays with 50% population in Malaysia none of them success, then I reckon you jump to the sea. That so!

Once again, with you racist pig moron, Malaysia wouldn’t go far as far as globalisation is all about!

You are truly one of those Umno babi hutan with shit plastered all over your brain and fulfilling Hang Tuah policy in reverse! With babi hutan like you whose brains are filled with tahi babi – it would be melayu akan hilang di dunia!

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Rejected on 22 May, 2010 at 4:02 pm

No offense but (ops, something offensive coming) I’ll be honest and say some of every group are racist.

To make things clearer, I’m a Chinese who wasn’t exposed to mandarin or any clan dialect plus I look like a non-chinese. Guess what happened? people discriminate me for that but hey, it’s not like I choose not to learn or to look like that. Chinese would say I’m of the lower class while the others would give me the same treatment.

As a child, I spend most of the time thinking why? and some unhappy things do happen every few week. All these actually helped me. I realized “why?” or “blame them” aren’t important and we should take people as what they are. Now, I don’t judge anyone, not at all. You can be lazy or arrogant or dark skinned or whatever, I’ll just accept you for who you are.

Statistic or history or proof. It all goes down to our mentality, of how we choose to look at all these evidence.

Yes, I believe the main problem would be the mentality of (I would say) almost every single person. The low mentality that hinders unity.

Sometime ago an article entitled We, the non-Malays by a Ms Eunice Ong was posted onwww.loyarburok.com.

I would like to respond to some of the points raised in the article. Note that what I say here is my personal opinion. I cannot claim to speak on behalf of all the non-Malays.

As a firm believer in the freedom of speech, I fully respect the writer’s view, but I would like to present another perspective on the matter she raised.

I am a proud product and supporter of the vernacular school system, and have a dream to see progress and changes in my beautiful motherland of Malaysia, the only homeland I ever have.

Ms Ong had attempted to look into the issue of Malay rights from a non-Malay perception and perspective.

Her main argument is that the non-Malays, after complaining so much on the privileges received by our Malay countrymen and making endless appeals for change from our end, still refuse to make sacrifices like accepting Bahasa Melayu as the national language and Islam as the national religion, or even just sharing a meal with our Malay friends in a halal restaurant.

I believe that we, the non Malays, might have not been 100% perfect in our daily interactions and dealings with our Malay friends, but I doubt many of us object to Bahasa Melayu as our national language or have any reservation on respecting Islam as the religion of the land.

We will, of course, object and protest if our rights to mother tongue education and freedom of religious beliefs and practices as provided for in the Federal Constitution are violated.

Contrary to Ms Ong’s presumption that some non-Malays might think that going to a halal eatery is a sacrifice, I doubt many will have any thoughts over such a social interaction. Most will just accept it as a matter of fact. I don’t think any sensible person will consider such matters an issue at all.

I, for one, enjoy the halal mamak delicacies as well as ikan bakar served in the Sin Chew Cafeteria. Yes, for a company with a majority Chinese staff, we have a Malay stall catering for Malay workers. The halal food outlet is also very popular with the non-Malay workers

I have often contended that a single stream education system is not the solution for the many problems we face, in particular, disunity among the races.

The writer has claimed that social cliques are race based, and the various languages form a barrier to racial interaction.
Let me narrate a real life example of how language need not be a barrier in making friends, real friends.

My mother is less privileged in terms of education opportunity because she only had two years of formal education. She is now in her sixties going to seventies.

Mum speaks Mandarin, Hokkien, Melanau and the most broken Malay one could ever imagine. But Kak Amoy, a Malay helper to our family 20 years ago and who only speaks Malay, has been Mum’s best friend till this day.

How they communicate with each other does not require rocket science, but simply through the heart – a matter of affection and sincerity.

Over the years, Mum’s Malay has certainly improved by leaps and bounds.

Some might think that Mum is an exception, since she is a Chinese who grew up in a Melanau Kampung at Mukah in Sarawak. She doesn’t belong to our generation, does she? Moreover, she did not really go to school, so she is not very much a product of our education system. We can’t consider her case when discussing our education system, ya?

But, is language the only tool to national integration?

Obviously, language needs not be an obstacle to friendship between the various races.

Now, let us look at Ms Ong’s suggestion on doing away with the vernacular schools.

Here, let me draw the attention of the readers to the current local political situation.

The governing coalition led by Umno is formed by different race-based political parties, each representing the interests of their respective race.

Among them, many politicians will not hesitate to play the racial card to their personal interest, even if it is at the detriment of the nation.

Would it be wise to abolish the vernacular schools now, or integrate them into the national education?

I don’t wish to speculate, but, if we are to give up our rights to education via the medium of our choice, what other rights will we have to give up for the sake of national unity in future?

With due respect, Ms Ong’s suggestion of abolishing vernacular schools is an oversimplified unrealistic solution to the complicated state of affair that our nation is facing.

Many Malaysian are angry, they are bothered by many issues like corruption, misuse of powers by the authorities, inefficient government bodies, doubts on the independence of the judiciary, etc. These issues are not racial or religious, but simply basic moral, civil and social matters that affect every citizen whatever his or her race or religion, or language.

Vernacular schools products like me and most other Malaysians are concerned about these issues, and we want to see a change for the better in our nation. Such a change is expected by all Malaysians.

We will have to make sacrifice for the change, and it starts with us individually.

For a start, let’s stop giving bribes to traffic police, stop greasing hands to get things done at government offices.

Don’t politicize the vernacular school system. Leave the vernacular schools alone. The problems dividing the people of various races are not caused by them, but by politicians exploiting the racial sentiments.

My dream is to see my country progress to be an united harmonious nation, where our politicians dispute on ideals, not playing the racial and religious cards.

That, indeed, is the change we should be striving for.

The writer is the deputy head of the Culture & Education Department of Sin Chew Daily
( The opinions expressed by the writer do not necessarily reflect those of MySinchew )

MySinchew 2010-07-09

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Tian Chua must apologise
2010-07-06 20:59

PKR strategic director Tian Chua’s call to the Selangor state government to boycott the Sin Chew Daily over certain news reports he is unhappy with is surely a very sad reflection of his own shallow understanding of the democratic political process he and his party profess to uphold.

One of the fundamental principles of democracy is the freedom of speech, which includes the freedom of the press. To muffle the press is surely a gross violation of the freedom of speech.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers”.

The Pakatan Rakyat has publicly declared in its campaigns during the March 2008 general election that it upholds the freedom of speech, including the concept of a free press. It has even promised to revoke laws that restrain, constrict, repress and suppress news reporting.

What Tian Chua has done is a total contradiction of the Pakatan Rakyat principle of freedom of opinion and expression, and a retraction of his statement and an apology from him are surely in order.

If fact, the PKR leadership should initiate disciplinary action against him for embarrassing the party and giving a wrong impression of the party to its supporters and the general public.

The general public is fast losing confidence in the PKR, if not even the Pakatan Rakyat coalition itself, over several very unfavourable incidents involving the party. This will certainly affect the Pakatan Rakyat vision and mission of taking over Putra Jaya after the next general election.

The people are questioning the defection of several MPs and state assembly members from the PKR, and they want the party to be responsible and accountable for such a fiasco.

Tian Chua himself is now facing the possibility of losing his Batu parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur if his conviction and sentence for assaulting a policeman are upheld by the higher court.

The so-called plot against Selangor Menetri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim is another big embarrassment for the PKR, and caused no small measures of doubts among the party grassroots members and supporters.

The latest outburst against Sin Chew Daily is another impulsive reaction which is bad for the party and Tian Chua himself.
It certainly is wrong to desacralize the fundamental human right principle to free speech and free expression by calling for a boycott of a newspaper that is doing its job of reporting and interpreting news for the people.

Selangor PKR deputy chairman Hee Loy Sian, in trying to make some damage control, has denied that the party leadership had considered boycotting Sin Chew Daily, contradicting Tian Chua’s claim that the boycott move was endorsed by the party leadership.

According to Selangor senior executive councillor Teresa Kok, the Selangor state assembly has not discussed anything about boycotting Sin Chew Daily.

Teresa, the DAP national organising secretary, said the state government would not adopt such a proposal, and felt that such a move was unnecessary.

State Executive Councillor Ronnie Liu of the DAP also told me that the Pakatan Rakyat does not endorse such “stupid action”. Ronnie said that the leaders of the coalition are true defenders and fighters of human rights and would not persecute the legitimate and honest media.

Ronnie also has high commendation of Sin Chew Daily, saying that it is a very credible and fair newspaper.
In view of the refutation of Tian Chua’s boycott call, it seems obvious that he was making the announcement without the approval and sanction of the Pakatan Rakyat leadership.

If that is the case, the people and supporters who voted for the Pakatan Rakyat during the March 2008 general election would expect that disciplinary action by taken against the errant MP. He should also be made to publicly retract the boycott call and apologise to Sin Chew Daily. That is the least a gentleman would do.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sin Chew Daily plays an important role in Malaysian politics and has been carrying out the responsibility of monitoring governance over the years, according to Selangor MCA Youth chief Dr Kow Cheong Wei.

Kow was commenting on PKR strategic director Tian Chua’s call to the Selangor state government to boycott Sin Chew Daily over what he perceived as distorted reporting.

Describing Tian Chua’s reaction as a childish behavior, Kow said that politicians cannot expect to be praised by the media everyday as there are both good and bad sides to political events.

Kow said in a statement that politicians should, instead, heed the advice and recommendations given by the media to adjust and improve themselves.

He said the MCA Youth believed that the reports published by Sin Chew Daily on Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was to let the readers know what is happening in the state.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek is right to say that the MCA is not ready to face a snap general election.
He also admits that the MCA has yet to fully recover from bruises of the one-and-a-half-year internal conflicts and he needs at least six months to a year to stabilise the party.

The problem is, it is easy to destroy but hard to build. Would six months or a year of time enough to change the situation of the party?

According to Chua, there is still some time before the next general election and the people may change their minds at any time. Over time, they will find that the Pakatan Rakyat is not as perfect as they thought.

Chua seems to lack confidence in himself and, thus, could only hope that the people will be totally disappointed by the Pakatan Rakyat and return to the BN.

His attitude of not trying to reflect and save himself has shown his helplessness over the current political situation.
Voters seem to be indifferent to a series of people-friendly movements of the BN in recent days. The results of a few by-elections have shown that the basic political situation after the March 2008 general election has not been changed much.
The changes, if any, would be the return of some Indian and Malay votes to the BN. But at the same time, Chinese votes have been flowing to the Pakatan Rakyat at a very high speed.

Such a trend has even extended to southern peninsula. Johor Bahru, which has been regarded as a political bastion of the BN, is no longer a safe zone today.

The Pakatan Rakyat took control of five states after the 2008 general election. The honeymoon period of the Pakatan Rakyat and the voters is surprisingly long even though the Pakatan Rakyat has carelessly lost control of Perak and has been entangled with infighting, defections and the issue of low quality MPs. I believe that 90% of those who supported the Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 general election are still supporting it today.

The Pakatan Rakyat has vowed to go all out to win the next general election and take control of Putrajaya. Its plea to voters to give it a chance to rule the country after 50 years of BN rule is apparently gaining support

Many voters are willing to give it a try as they are fed up of the BN rule and am looking for change.

It cannot be said that the BN has made no contribution to the country at all over the past half of a century, but its long-term governance has also brought about corruption problems, including conspiracy between businessmen and officials, interest transference, abuse of power and racial bias.

Although the BN government has made some policy adjustments and changes, the people have not seen the actual results.
Unless voters are convinced that the BN has had a thorough tranformation, those who have dumped the BN will never support it again

Politics used to be a noble profession. It was not even referred to as a profession but as a vocation. It stemmed from an innate desire to serve the community, not the rewards doing so would bring. There was a time when politicians were totally committed to the ideals of improving the lot of mankind in his area of docile and his country. They truly represented the people. Winning votes came out of such a commitment. It almost became incidental. Now we hardly find such a politician.

Politicians now consider politics as a profession. They want to hold whatever positions they get until death. In this country one politician even shot an opponent to death. In the zealousness to retain or improve their positions, many politicians have become corrupt. Corruption is not merely the taking or giving of money, rewards and benefits. It is also the offer of such benefits for the purpose of getting votes. In Malaysia, it is said even by a public figure, it requires more than a billion Ringgit to win the General Elections. Incredible. Ridiculous. Alas, not much can be done by the average citizen like us. Except to continue shouting against the wrong doings by politicians on both sides of the aisle. Under the circumstances, it may not be worth labeling politicians. Our time might be better spent asking the physically and morally corrupt ones to spend a little time reflecting on their words and actions, to change and repent.

And we also join them in doing so. For no man is free from weaknesses and faults. We need more people of integrity to forge a united and long-lasting peaceful Malaysia.

People tend to generalise their “judgment” upon a person based on the characteristics of the majority from where the person came from. But when people get to know the person himself/herself, people may find that she/he may be entirely different from the group where she/he belongs.

Consider this.

When people see Ah Beng, people will have the general idea that Ah Beng is not fluent is Bahasa Kebangsaan, always talking in mother tongue everywhere he goes and everywhere he is. Ah Beng goes to vernacular school. Ah Beng only mingle with own kind etc. People shun Ah Beng almost automatically in the first instant. But wait until when people get closer to Ah Beng and found out that Ah Beng speaks impeccable Bahasa Kebangsaan and to cut short short, Ah Beng truly is a Malaysian.

What do you think will happen to that initial reaction to shun Ah Beng? It will immediately turn into (quite unbelievably) instant fondness and brotherhood feelings.

As a Malaysian, sitting in a restaurant somewhere in KL – how do you feel when the group next to you is chatting in Bahasa Kebangsaan among themselves even though all the members of the group belong to one ethnicity whose Bahasa Melayu is not their mother tongue? I think, the Malays especially, would have a melt in their heart hearing the chattings.

What if the group go on as usual chatting in foreign language while the members of the group claim themselves to be malaysians?

I think, the majority people from a certain ethnic have done injustice to some of their same ethnic members when some of them “got rejected” or “discriminated” by fellow Malaysians. The majority from this ethnic has continually “discriminated themselves” from the rest of the Malaysians and such discrimination effects has befallen onto some of them who are truly Malaysians in the first place.

So the task here is, to turn this particularly ethnic who always want to remain to be discriminated by speaking their foreign mother tongue in this land and refuse to let their children to mingle with other malaysians by upholding their vernacular interests. Their have in actual fact, hampering, damaging all the nation building efforts that has been continually carried since then.

We agree with you that fondness, sense of togetherness, goodwill and harmony come out of common identity, hopes and aspirations among citizens. That can naturally develop out of a common language. That can be seen everywhere in the world. Even the Chinese in mainland China adopt a common language – Mandarin, which is not their mother tongue – as their official and inter-clan language. China, which is made up of people from various clans and sub-clans with differing mother tongues, has become united through that common language. So has the United States, which comprise of people originally speaking English, French, Dutch, German, Italian and other European languages, and those speaking African, Hispanic and a host of Asian languages.

The feeling of “discrimination” arises from a reluctance to accept and respect the Constitution fully. When one accepts the fact that the Malays have always had a Special Position which, as the British pointed out, was there “since day one” and was enshrined in the Constitution in consideration of citizenship for the non-Malays, one would not look at the affirmative action taken to let the Malays catch up with the Chinese economically and educationally as “discrimination”.

The feeling of rejection comes from isolating oneself from mainstream Malaysiana by, for example, insisting upon Mandarin as the medium of instruction in Chinese schools when Bahasa Malaysia is the National Language, when everybody else goes to national schools using Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction. One isolates oneself when doing so. In the process, one feels rejected out of one’s own self-isolating tendencies. One becomes more than the conservative, even the “unliberal” variety.

Nation building has to be based on respect for and living with the Constitution of the country. There’s no other way of doing it. All democratic countries adopt a Constitution by which the progress of the country is charted. The progress of the country can become orderly and uninterrupted when the words and actions of its citizens are in line with the Constitution. Speaking Bahasa Malaysia is certainly in line with the Constitution of Malaysia. It is the prerequisite for citizenship and a measure of loyalty to the country.

Where got liberal if they cannot even honour their part of bargain under Social Contract…. they are more than unliberal if they talk bad about NEP. ………..look at that guy calling Malays pigs and many things…. this kind must be racis number one.

Those who don’t respect the Social contract and Article 153 of the Constitution are largely the adherents of the so-called “Malaysian Malaysia” concept schemed out by the chauvinist Lee Kuan Yew who got “kicked out” of Malaysia together with Singapore in 1965. The concept is subversive to the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. Equality in this country must take into account the Special Position which was enshrined in the Constitution as the quid pro quo for the citizenship right of the non-Malays. That was the Social contract. We agree with you that those who have taken citizenship but do not respect the Malay Special Position and the New Economic Policy which was derived from it are not honouring their part of the bargain. They definitely cannot be said to be liberal. Whether “unliberal” or conservative, we’ll let the readers judge for themselves.

The guy calling Malays pigs etc are a lost soul. He is simply rude and crude. This kind of hardcore and wayward fellows are not worth discussing in order to avoid ill feelings. The comment was placed in here only to show the extent unliberal fellows go in berating others.

Why you have not included moderate category? I think many Chinese are moderates. They just want to get on with their lives. Do business or carry on with their professions. They usually don’t talk politics. Maybe they are the silent majority among the Chinese in this country. Let’s move on.

Yes, let’s move on. As we have moved on a lot since Merdeka. At one one time we were even referred to as a “poor country”. Then as an “under-developed country”. Later as a “developing country”, now as a “less-developed country” and we want to become a “developed country”. By all means let’s get on with our business and with our professions. We need not participate in politics but we need to be conscious of and be a part of the political process. We need the emergence of a united and cohesive Bangsa Malaysia that we all can be proud to call ourselves, at home and abroad. Especially abroad when people can mistake us by our physical characteristics and the language we speak, as pointed out by Kenn in his earlier comment.

Btw, Kenn was telling about his observation at an Italian airport (Rome?) and that was one instance not to do like the Romans do – we have to be proud of our Bahasa Kebangsaan and speak it even in Rome! But even the Romans would talk Italian anywhere they go. Can those Chinese who do not talk Bahasa Malaysia during official functions – including in school which is considered as official business – and in the presence of others be called moderate?

Many Chinese are moderate in the sense that they are not extreme in their views and political stand. But questioning the sensitive Article 153 on the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak is being extreme – seditious, to say the least, as Article 153 is listed under the Sedition Act. Other than the so-called “Malaysian Malaysia” opposition crowd, there are even a section of those in the ruling alliance of political parties who have started to talk like they belong to the opposition which comprises largely of “unliberal Chinese”. This has somewhat clouded the term “moderate” among the politically inclined Chinese. However, those professionals and business people who have been exposed to modern thinking and the international crowd are likely to be moderates.

dear admin,
vincent wrote, “Why you have not included moderate category? I think many Chinese are moderates. They just want to get on with their lives. Do business or carry on with their professions. They usually don’t talk politics. Maybe they are the silent majority among the Chinese in this country.” do really think so? give us figure on till 2009 that vernacular school are. in peninsular, sabah & sarawak compare it to population. look on how many produced by this alienate and from sk. silent majority that moderate are supposed to be from which edu sys? be open, don’t be defensive ly shut! tq

Many may think they are moderate because they accept the Social Contract and do not raise issues on the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. This is appreciated. We also know that there are Chinese who accept and do not mind the New Economic Policy. We only hope there are more of them and that more and more would realize that the NEP emanates from the Special Position. More importantly, we hope that they accept the rationale for the Special Position and the NEP, and the history of the struggles for independence, the roles played by the leaders of the various communities. These have been explained time and again in this blog and elsewhere. In this respect, that part of our history must be made compulsory learning in all schools.

The number of Chinese vernacular schools has been furnished in a reply to a comment in an earlier blog. There has been a noticeable increase in the number in the last several years with the rise of mainland China as a trading nation and the feeling among Chinese here not to be “left out” or “lose out” (“kiasu” in the Chinese language) of business prospects with China or employment with companies doing business with China. The Government must rationalize its approach on this matter – Mandarin can be learnt as an elective subject in national schools.

The total number of Chinese children attending Chinese schools does not constitute the majority but it is significant enough to require attention from the point of view of the Constitutional position of Bahasa Malaysia and the need for bringing about togetherness and unity in this country. The vernacular schools are generally hardly multi-racial in composition and do not provide an atmosphere of racial mixing and the development of moderate views among children at their formative age.

I’ve said it before. No negotiation, no compromise. The matter has been negotiated and a compromise reached a long time ago, during the fight for independence, with the knowledge of and endorsed by the British as colonial masters at that time. Non-Malays got citizenship, Malays got their Special Position written into the Constitution. Bahasa Melayu has been the lingua franca of this region since time immemorial. What to talk any more? Now Bahasa Malaysia is in the Constitution, respect it la.

Come to think of it, the Malays did not get anything at that time – the Special Position has always been there. As has been pointed out many times in this blog and elsewhere, the British themselves said that the Malay Special Position had always been there “since day one”. This was stated in the British Parliament by the Colonial Secretary when debating the Malaya Independence Bill. The British had always recognized that Special Position and respected that since they first started contacts with this country.

So, what is there to negotiate any more? Just be reasonable. Non-Malays whether liberal or not have to accept the Social Contract – the Malays get the Special Position enshrined in the Constitution, the non-Malays get their citizenship right. You question the Special Position, others will question the right to citizenship. Because that was the consideration. Loud and clear. No two-way about it.

The Chinese have had English schools up to secondary level in the towns where most of them lived since colonial times whereas the Malays had only four years of primary-level Malay schools in the kampongs where most of them lived. The British gave the Chinese various facilities to do business (“tongkat”, the word used in recent times), like mining licenses, mining land leases, licenses to do lotteries and gaming of many sorts, licenses to trade in rubber etc. The British wanted the Malays to continue as farmers and fishermen – to be in food production, they said – and didn’t entertain Krian Malays’ request for an English school, and built an English school in Klang (a kampong at that time) but closed it after four months of opening when Kuala Lumpur (colonial) bosses found out about it.

The Chinese therefore advanced educationally and economically. At independence in 1957 the non-Malays were given citizenship right and the Malays Special Position was written into the Constitution. When the racial riots of 1969 occurred, the Malays who form the majority of the population had hardly 5% places in the professions and only 2% of the wealth of the country. The New Economic Policy was introduced to remedy the situation, let the Malays catch up to an acceptable level. The Malays did not have a culture of profit taking, doing business and wealth accumulation. They now managed to acquire only 18% corporate equity. Nothing is mentioned about the other aspects of the economy as of now. The NEP needs to continue in the New Economic Model. The matter of negotiation does not even arise as far as most Malays are concerned. Hopefully all Chinese – liberal, “unliberal” or conservative – understand and respect that so that we can continue living in peace and harmony in this country.

F… b…… (ed.) call us pig, say we stolen Asli land, want to blamed Malays stupid lazy tongkat 30 years govenment help not success, I can f… (ed.) him his mother so hard to no more kurang ajar. He talking Melayu hilang didunia I can …. (ed.) him from mouth to back he cannot talk no more. biadap kurang ajar monkey.

All Malaysians should know and school children must be taught Malayan / Malaysian history and the fact that Malays have been here from time immemorial. A participant of this blog calling himself Dot has written his comments on this subject a few times, quoting the book, The Malay Civilisation”, written by Mohd Arof Ishak, published by The Malaysian Historical Society in 2007. The book provides the findings of scores of experts in linguistics, anthropology, archaeology and other disciplines in the study of mankind. They have carried out research and scientific studies since the mid-19th Century, continuing in the first half but heightened in the second half of the 20th Century, that show the large “Family of Malays” or the “Rumpun Melayu”. This family includes the Orang Aslis (referred to as Proto Malays), the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, the Indonesians, Filipinos, and a range of people who have, since over 5,000 years ago, settled this area called Gugusan Pulau-Pulau Melayu or “The Malay Archipelago”. They total 350 million people.

Indeed they, as a seafaring people, with knowledge in boat or ship building (originally boats fitted with out-riggers) and ocean navigational skills, they have reached Madagascar (the Melanin Malays still exist there today), South Africa (the Cape Malays still exist as a distinct social group), the Christmas Island, Australia and New Zealand, the Polynesian Islands, Hawaii, Vietnam and Cambodia (the Champa Malays are still known as a community today), and Taiwan (in fact, 1-2 theories postulate that the Malays originated from Taiwan, though they have been disputed and the consensus is that the Malays originated in South East Asia). The experts have pointed out that the terms Proto Malays, Deutero Malays (that Malaysian Malays and Indonesians have often been referred to), Malayo-Polynesians and Austronesians belong to one and the same Family of Malays or Rumpun Melayu. The Malays have been moving in and out of the Malay Peninsula and the islands of this Malay Archipelago for thousands of years. The writer you referred to is therefore ignorant, to say the least.

That “winner” chap doesn’t know one bit about the history of this country. Dunno what he wins, this fellow. Sure unliberal one. Coming from Chinese school. Sure loser one, joining the group alienating theselves from the rest of Malaysia.

Saying “pendatang from Indonesia, pencuri of Tanah Orang Asli” and all. He has no clue about the history of the Malays. Already a loser there, being a bodoh. Sombong, angkuh, rude sommore. He deserves whatever Loyarburuk said in his blog.

The words “pendatang from Indonesia, pencuri of Tanah Orang Asli” are nonsense. As has been explained in the replies above, the Malays have been here in the Malay Archipelago for over 5,000 years, moving in and out of the area and that the Orang Asli, the Indonesians and the Filipinos are of the same Family of Malays or Rumpun Melayu.

The writer was angry at the blog owner for writing the post he referred to, asking the disloyal Chinese go back to China. Angry at one person, the writer went illogical and hit the whole Malay race. Clearly the fellow is not rational and shallow in thinking.

He does appear to be a product of Chinese schools, “unliberal”, narrow-minded, selfish, on the ultra side of kiasu (not wanting to be left out or always want to win), not respecting Article 152 of the Constitution on Bahasa Malaysia as the National Language of the country and Article 153 on the Special Position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. He has taken Malaysian citizenship but does not honour his part of the bargain under which the Malays had their Special Position – which has always been there “since day one” – written into the Constitution.

We say, nicely, softly, in a friendly manner …. “.. It’s an attempt at understanding one another better so that we can go about together better…”

“Agreed sir. Yet to succeed. We’re sizing each other up. By demanding RM 1 billion for my vernacular schools. 18K or 300K is not enough. We are selling you our votes. You got money to pay? Let’s work for change. ….. You got power. We got money. Power but no money go nowhere. No money no talk eh?”

I wander whose line is this?

That sounds like “a product of a Chinese school, a schooling system he does not want to give up, yet wants to see change in the country.”

This is a people driven by material wealth. Their culture is one of making profits, doing business, accumulating wealth. Being kiasu or not wanting to be left out or not wanting to lose is part and parcel of the fellows who talk money, money and money. They want more, more and more always. Not enough with getting citizenship, they want a vast amount of wealth. Not enough with wealth, they want economic control. Not enough with tremendous advancement in education and having so many as professionals in the country, they want more scholarships for their children. Yet they are not willing to part with anything they have. They say not all of them are wealthy and well educated. They want all of them to be wealthy and well educated. Never mind the others.

The limit is when they are anti-New Economic Policy that was designed to bridge the huge gap between them and the Malays who were left far behind economically largely due to the British colonial policies. They have not learnt anything from the racial riots of 1969. They don’t want to be reminded of it and opposed the efforts to hold commemoration rallies to get the rakyat remember, be aware the dangers of and try to avoid such a tragedy in the future. They hit at Tun Dr Mahathir, Perkasa and the 76 Malay NGOs, Gertak and the 58 Trengganu Malay NGOs and the Melayu Bangkit Rally in Trengganu. All these are not a healthy sign for racial harmony and continued peace in the country.

We need to keep on telling them the need to be reasonable. The need to let the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak catch up with them to an acceptable level. The need to realise that being kiasu has its limits. The need to honour their part of the bargain where they got citizenship and the Malays got their Special Position written into the Constitution. The need to respect and live by the Constitution. For the sake of continued peace and uninterrupted progress in the country.

“we are Malaysians and it is about time we should start acting like Malaysians. Our roots are all here in Malaysia, not in China or India.”

But not sure what you meant by

“Do we really expect them to give up what they have been enjoying for more than five decades in the name of change without us making an effort at the same time? If we do, how then can we advocate for fairness?”

Indeed we are proud of Eunice Ong saying that. The non-Malays do need to start acting like Malaysians. There are no two ways about it. They have become Malaysians and must act accordingly. Respect and live by the Constitution fully. It has been discussed among the leaders prior to Merdeka, discussed and approved in Parliament at Merdeka, discussed and approved again in Parliament at the formation of Malaysia.

Recognising that “Our roots are all here in Malaysia, not in China or India” is a very good basis to be “acting like Malaysians”. The Malays and others are proud of those who do and regard them fully as fellow Malaysians. When most of them really respect and live by the Constitution fully, it will be the start of a truly harmonious and peaceful Malaysia and we all can expect a continued and uninterrupted peace and progress in the country.

What Eunice Ong meant by “what they have been enjoying for more than five decades” are “the Malay rights” and “all the privileges that we see our Malay contemporaries get”. As has been explained earlier on, it needs to be pointed out again here that the Malay Special Position which gave those rights have been there for far more than the five decades she referred to. It has been there from time immemorial. The British Colonial Secretary told the British Parliament in the 1950s that it has existed “since day one”, recognised and respected by the British since they first made contact with this country. That Special Position was enshrined in the Constitution together with the right of the non-Malays to citizenship under what has been known as the Social Contract.

As some one has said in an earlier comment to this post, the Malay Special Position is not negotiable and does not allow room for compromise, just as the right of the non-Malays to citizenship is also not negotiable and does not allow room for compromise. “Equality” and “fairness have to take into account of that Special Position. The rationale for the New Economic Policy which was drawn from that Special Position and which provides the rights and privileges has been explained time and again. Basically it is the bridging of the huge economic and educational gap between the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak and the Chinese that was created largely by British colonial policies.

Eunice Ong is right: it is not fair to expect the Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak to give up their Special Position. Just as it is not fair to expect the non-Malays to
give up their citizenship or the Chinese their wealth. After all, the Chinese also have had, since the days of Menteri Larut Ngah Ibrahim, even before British colonial rule, and especially during British colonial rule, all kinds of facilities (now called “Tongkat”) for them to do business and excel in education. Let us all live by the Constitution of the country and respect the attempts at bridgng the gap between the Chinese and the Malays as well as the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak. The implementation of the NEP may be criticised but the concept of NEP must not. For the sake of racial harmony and peace.

Aiyoyo, the Sin Chew LIM MUN FAH writer said “BN has made no contribution to the country at all over the past half of a century”. I’m not member any political party, but what is he talked? He must be a bull to said that.

He said BN “corruption problems, including conspiracy between businessmen and officials, interest transference, abuse of power and racial bias”. The opposition don’t have ah? What cock you talk.

UMNO has admitted to being corrupt to the core . Money politics is corruption. Dato Seri Najib has proposed amendments to the party nominations system during elections to party posts. That system had allowed a lot of money politics in the past. The other component parties of the BN may not have admitted it. But the Port Kelang Free Zone financial fiasco is linked with the MCA. MIC has been associated with the Maika Holding shares issue.

However, to say that “BN has made no contribution to the country at all over the past half of a century” shows the writer is devoid of a real political sense, has a skewed perception of what constitutes “contribution to the country”, is ignorant of history and shame on him as a writer. We, too, are not linked to any political party but are interested in honest and reasonable expression of views and opinions.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission was investigating corruption in the Selangor State Government that comprised of what before were opposition parties in that State. One witness to that investigation died in the premises of the MACC offices and the inquest into the cause of death has somewhat hijacked the corruption investigation. There has been a lot of allegations connected with the issue of sand mining licenses and the sale of sand in the state of Selangor. To say that the Opposition is free from corruption is far from the truth.

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This blog carries the personal views of several authors. Readers are cautioned not to consider the contents written in this blog and all its ancillary documents as a legal or contracting policy advice in any way. The information stated in this blog should not be relied upon as the ultimate reference of the truth. This blog is not responsible for the comments from the public, it therefore assumes no liability. This blog also disavows knowledge or culpability of any such acts or claims on such acts in any way related to the views and opinions expressed in this blog.